Academic literature on the topic 'NAO (National Accreditation Organization)'

Accreditation is the procedure by which the competence of a laboratory to perform a specified range of tests or measurements is assessed against a national or international standard. The accreditation covers the kinds of materials tested or measured, the procedures or methods used, the equipment and personnel used in those procedures, and all relevant systems that the laboratory has in place. Once accredited, the laboratory is entitled to endorse test results with their accreditation status which, if it has any validity, is an imprimatur of some degree of quality and gives the client added confidence in the results. Accreditation therefore benefits the laboratory, by allowing the laboratory to demonstrate competence in particular tests, and the client, by providing a choice of accredited laboratories that are deemed competent. Accreditation is part of conformity assessment in international trade. Conformity assessment leads to the acceptance of the goods of one country by another, with confidence borne of mutual recognition of manufacturing and testing procedures. Figure 9.1 shows the relation between accreditation and the goal of conformity in trade. For accreditation to be a cornerstones of conformity in trade, each laboratory that is assessed, in whatever country, must be judged against the same standard (e.g., ISO/IEC 17025), and the assessment process must be essentially the same from one country to another. The standards are indeed international, through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the accreditation bodies themselves are scrutinized under the auspices of the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC), being accredited to the ISO/IEC Standard 17011 (ISO/IEC 2004a). Full membership in ILAC is open to recognized bodies that operate accreditation schemes for testing laboratories, calibration laboratories, and inspection bodies that have been accepted as signatories to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement. They must maintain conformance with appropriate international standards such as ISO/IEC 17011 and ILAC guidance documents, and the must ensure that all their accredited laboratories comply with ISO/IEC 17025 and related ILAC guidance documents. Table 9.1 lists the full members and signatories of the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement. The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) of Australia has the distinction of being the first accreditation body in the world (founded in 1947), and has long been in the vanguard of the approach to quality through accreditation.

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the ‘Medical laboratories—Requirements for quality and competence (ISO 15189:2012) BS EN ISO 15189:2012’ accreditation is defined as ‘a procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that an organization is competent to carry out specific tasks’. Accreditation is delivered by the ‘competent authority’ based on a set of defined standards and the continual internal audit of the laboratory processes and infrastructure against these standards to achieve conformance. Additionally, the ‘competent authority’ periodically undertakes assessments to ensure compliance with the standards. These assessments vary in frequency and nature depending upon the assessment body. In some instances (e.g. UK Accreditation Service, UKAS), the assessments are annual and based on a four- year cycle covering the whole laboratory repertoire and infrastructure. The HSE is responsible for the inspection and licencing of microbiological containment level 3 and 4 facilities. The HTA is responsible for legal registration of laboratories that process and store human tissue, and is mainly histology related. The MHRA provides guidelines on good laboratory practice, good clinical practice, good clinical laboratory practice, and good manufacturing practice, largely around clinical trial work. It is also responsible for accreditation of blood transfusion laboratories. Finally, it provides guidance on the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Directive (IVDMDD, 98/ 79/ EC) and the regulation of medical ‘devices’ including diagnostic devices, where a ‘device’ is defined as including reagent kits and analytical platforms. EFI provides guidance and standards for transplantation and tissue typing laboratories across Europe. Until 2009, CPA provided accreditation for the majority of UK pathology services. CPA was acquired by the UK Accreditation Service in 2009. UKAS is a government- appointed national accreditation body for the UK that is responsible for certification, testing, inspection, and calibration services, and is the competent authority for all ISO standards, not just pathology. It covers various sectors, including healthcare, food production, energy supply, climate change, and personal safety. The majority of UK pathology services will be UKAS ISO15189 accredited by 2018, including transitional ‘dual’ CPA standards/ ISO15189 accreditation between 2015 and 2018. It also provides ISO22870:2006 accreditation that is point of care specific, as well as ISO17025:2005, which applies to calibration standards.

Internationalization has become a subject of global interest and global geographical coverage. In order to develop a National Internationalization Strategy of Ukraine, it is necessary to take into account trends and patterns in the global market of international education services. The aim of this article is to examine national policy of Ukraine for higher education internationalization, consider issues of foreign students’ study in Ukraine and give recommendations for National Internationalization Strategy development. To achieve the above aim, several methods have been used, including internet search, analysis, systematization of evident information. The European vector for developing Ukraine has been confirmed by the accession to the Bologna Process (2005) and Association Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine (2014). Basis for higher education internationalization (Bologna instruments and legislative documents) have been analyzed. The goals and tasks of the Ukrainian State Center for International Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (the official state source of information on the education of foreign students in Ukraine) are presented. Statistical data from Development Strategy of the state enterprise “Ukrainian State Center for International Education for 2021–2025” prove the increase of foreign students in Ukraine. SWOT analysis of the higher education internationalization in Ukraine revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of higher education internationalization. The current state of higher education internationalization in Ukraine is also clarified by the results of PESTL analysis identifying Political, Economic, Social, Technological, and Legal aspects of the external environment that affect this process. It is stated that Ukraine faces the following challenges concerning academic mobility: insufficient / no funding; non-recognition of degrees / diplomas; unsatisfactory level of foreign language proficiency; inappropriate educational programs / training organization; legal issues; lack of information and encouragement; personal problems of students. The degree of involvement of scholars and academics in international cooperation is very low. The main aspects for the National Internationalization Strategy in Ukraine and their content components are highlighted as following: worldview and value aspect (mission, vision, values, principles); organizational and resource aspect (goals and objectives, approaches, methods, tools, forms, mechanisms, organizational structure and functions, resources); regulatory and legal aspect (legislative regulation: tools for recognition, implementation of mobility, introduction of joint educational programs, mechanisms for ensuring the quality of higher education). It is recommended to develop National Internationalization Strategy; to involve foreign experts for the accreditation of Ukrainian educational programs and participate in the accreditation of foreign educational programs; to develop the Ukrainian rating of universities taking into account indicators of internationalization: foreign students; foreign academics in the Ukrainian universities; publications in foreign scientific journals; joint educational programs / research.

Abstract The current Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) CQI-9 audit process has limited effectiveness to proactively detect heat treatment quality risks in Tier-1 and Tier-2 supply bases. A cross-functional engineering organization developed an improved supplier audit form using CQI-9, National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP), International Automotive Task Force (IATF), and specific internal company standards to distinguish and quantify production issues that may have been undiscovered with the existing CQI-9 approach. Representatives from engineering, com